Two Irish crews competed in C Finals at the 2018 World Rowing Junior Championships this afternoon, securing their world rankings in back to back races.
First up was the Junior Men’s quad of Jack Keating (stroke, Carlow), Jack Dorney, Alex Byrne and Luke Hayes-Nally (all Shandon BC) who placed first in their C/D semi-final earlier this morning. They raced against Italy, Norway, Ukraine, Lithuania and Sweden in the final.
Italy took an early lead, blistering ahead of the entire field while Ireland gained clear water on the rest of the pack. Ukraine tried to challenge further down the course but the Irish crew held on to their second-place position, crossing the line just a length behind Italy to secure a 14th place overall rank at World Junior level.
Next up was the Irish Junior Women’s double of Ciara Moynihan and Ciara Browne who also raced the 2,000m course this morning, winning their semi-final with gusto.
This afternoon’s final was a slightly different story however with the Irish double crossing the line further down the field, in fourth position, despite racing 20 seconds faster than in their earlier event. It was a good performance nonetheless in a field that saw Croatia steal the win from Lithuania, who placed second ahead of Austria. The Irish crew of Workmen’s RC athletes now ranks 16th overall in their category at World Junior level.
Earlier in the day, the Irish Junior Men’s coxed four of Eoin Finnegan (cox St. Joseph’s RC), Conor Mulready (Castleconnell), James O’Donovan(Castleconnell), Fintan O’Driscoll (Carlow) and Eoin Gaffney (stroke, Shandon) also took to the water today for their first race since Thursday.
They had qualified directly for the A/B semi-final of their event following heats but failed to keep pace with the rest of the field in this competitive semi-final event. The Irish crew held fourth place at the 500m mark but dropped back to sixth and never regained the lost ground. They go through to the B Final of the JM4+ tomorrow morning (Sunday) but have already secured a top 12 place overall in their event at World Junior level.
The Irish Junior Women’s pair of Gill McGirr and Ellie O’Reilly (both Fermoy RC) also raced in the A/B semi-final of their event this morning and just missed out on an A Final qualifying position.
Greece powered ahead of the pack from the off, winning the race in a new World record setting time of 7.15.53 minutes, while the Irish pair moved up the field progressively from a sixth position placing at 500m. They began picking up their pace at the halfway mark and a battle ensued with France and Canada for third place contention but France pushed ahead into second and Canada claimed the third qualifying place ahead of Ireland who finished fourth.
The Irish women’s pair will race again in the B Final of their event tomorrow morning (Sunday) having also secured a top 12 place in the World at Junior level.
Irish Crew Race Times at the World Rowing Junior Championships:
08.30am: JM4+ (Junior Men’s coxed four) B Final - Eoin Finnegan (cox), Conor Mulready, James O’Donovan, Fintan O’Driscoll and Eoin Gaffney. (Castleconnell, Carlow, Shandon and St. Joseph’s RC composite crew)
08.36: JW2- (Junior Women’s Pair) B Final - Gill McGirr and Ellie O'Reilly (both Fermoy RC)
Follow the races live here:
http://www.worldrowing.com/events/2018-world-rowing-junior-championships/
